Nigel Farage and recently-recruited Reform UK MP Lee Anderson poked fun at Rishi Sunak after their party scaled new heights in a poll published today.
Labour leads the Tories by 25 points in YouGov’s survey, with the Conservatives on just 19 percent – the lowest total since the days of Liz Truss in 2022.
The poll, based on interviews with 2,037 adults on March 19 and 20, puts Reform on 15 percent, up one point on last month and a record-breaking tally.
GB News presenter Mr Farage, who is Reform’s honorary president, but who has not yet confirmed whether he is planning to return to the political fray, reacted with delight on X.
Referring to the UK Independence Party, of which he was once leader, he posted: “Only a four-point gap now between Reform and the Tories.
“This insurgency is far bigger than Ukip.”
Mr Anderson, who quit the Tories last week, having been suspended by the parliamentary party over remarks made about London Mayor Sadiq Khan, was equally ebullient.
Also posting on X, he shared a link to the poll, commenting: “The gap is closing.
“At least one plan is working.”
Rupert Lowe, who stood for Reform UK in the recent Kingswood by-election, commented: “Remarkable progress, with more to come.”
YouGov’s poll suggests just 46 percent of those who voted Conservative in 2019 back the party.
Reform is comfortably ahead of both the Liberal Democrats (on nine percent) and the Greens (eight percent).
Even older Britons appear to be disenchanted with the Tories, with support sitting at 32 percent, compared with 26 percent for Reform and 23 percent for Labour.
The Prime Minister yesterday addressed the Conservative 1922 Committee yesterday with a plea for unity ahead of May’s local elections after days of speculation about his position.
During the meeting, it is understood Mr Sunak was challenged by former party chairman Sir Jake Berry at the meeting over media briefings against him which he alleged had originated from No 10.
Sir Jake stressed he had not submitted a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister but said he had raised the issue with the whips and received no reply.
Meanwhile, Tory MP Jonathan Gullis hit out at what he described as a “tiny minority” of critics and dismissed suggestions of friction at the meeting, claiming there was “not a single dissenting voice” in the room.
Responding to a suggestion that the Prime Minister did not have the support of the nation, Dame Andrea Leadsom, a former leadership contender, told Sky News today: “We have periodic general elections, and the Prime Minister has set out quite clearly an autumn timeframe.
“You don’t call a general election just because there is a particular mood or a particular situation, that very, very rarely happens.”
